


Missing

by Ralloonx



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Memory Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 18:33:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21360787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ralloonx/pseuds/Ralloonx
Summary: New idea here. This has nothing to do with In the End Light Blooms. :)It's more or less generation one, but with tweaks.And apologies.. I don't have a beta reader.
Kudos: 11





	Missing

The battle had been long.

Optimus was tired, and he was filthy, but as he stood over Megatron he felt no elation. It felt wrong somehow. Like this had all been too easy. 

He looked around the devastated landscape and found there were few near. It gave him time to look down at Megatron again. They had been fighting for long minutes, nearly half an hour, in hand to hand combat. The punch that had knocked the warlord down hadn’t been an impressive one. It was almost enough to make Optimus believe this was a ruse, and yet Megatron lay at his peds, entirely unmoving. In fact he appeared to be in stasis lock. His frame showed rents and scrapes from their fighting, but it clearly wasn’t enough to knock the likes of Megatron down.

Ironhide shocked him out of his revere. “Optimus!” Worried for his prime, the red mech then stumbled to a stop over the rough terrain. Optics widened a moment as he saw Megatron. “We have to secure him!” Ironhide all but lept on Megatron like the warlord would wake at any moment. He pulled stasis cuffs out of subspace and began securing Megatron’s arms. 

Optimus didn’t move, his audials damaged slightly, making everything sound distant and tinny.. and he wondered if Ironhide always had cuffs on him.

But then Ironhide’s rough voice cut through his thoughts. The mech was grasping his arm. “Optimus? ..I’m calling Ratchet.” For this wasn’t looking right.

It kind of woke Optimus like a splash of cold water. He shook his helm, “No, I am.. fine. Merely low on energon.” It was actually the truth.

“Ratchet’s on his way regardless.” Ironhide groused, frowning. He knew his prime’s perchance for denying injury. 

The two turned Megatron over and secured his hands more properly. The mech’s fusion canon was removed and laid aside. Just in time for the medic and an assortment of front liners to appear.

Ratchet barked out, “Frag me! You did it!” But that didn’t stop him from coming over to help with things. The others hung back a bit, uncertain what to do, but there was a weary excitement growing. Megatron had been captured! 

Optimus motioned to them all, “Spread out and clear our path back to the shuttle. Announce a full retreat. The Decepticons will fight hard for their leader.” 

Getting Megatron fully into their custody was not going to be easy, and Optimus’ concerns proved correct. Once word got around that Megatron was down, the Decepticons hit hard in an effort to get him back. However, their efforts were sabotaged by Starscream. He and his seekers began strafing runs across both lines of combat, eager to make sure Megatron never woke up. While this aided the Autobots to a degree, it sure didn’t make a retreat any easier.

Prowl’s calm voice was an assurance through comms as he shifted the whole course of the battle on the fly. The Autobots, believing this could be a final end to the war, gave it their all, and through that they won. Such as this strange battle even meant anything in winning. 

Even if for over an hour they had to hunker down and wait for the seekers to run out of ammunition. Bluestreak got in an amazing shot and Starscream was taken out of the battle. No one knew his final fate, only the trail of black smoke that showed in general where he went down. They were all too busy to seek that one out.

With Starscream down and Megatron in enemy hands, it seems the Decepticons called a retreat, for the battle ended quickly. It allowed the Autobots to board their shuttle and make their own escape.

Once back at base it was loosely organized chaos. Triage had fallen back with the rest of the army, and had spilled into the corridors. There was hardly room to move, but Ratchet ruled the roost. His rough voice could be heard everywhere as orders were given and lives were saved.

Megatron was taken to the brig. He hadn’t once stirred, and didn’t show any signs of doing so, but no chances were taken. Guards were set and he was heavily secured to his cell berth. And there he laid for nearly a day.

Optimus had been unable to see the warlord for those hours, the mechs under his command needing him, but now he stood at the bars and watched the still form. He had asked to be informed if Megatron woke, but so far no word had come.

Ratchet certainly didn’t mean to sneak up, but his voice startled Optimus just the same, “Optimus?” He had been asked to come here when he found the time.

The prime looked down and touched fields with the medic. They were the oldest of friends, and the trust between them a heavy thing. A comforting thing. “Thank you for assisting, Ratchet. He has not woken in all these hours. It concerns me.”

There was a grunt from the chief medical officer, who hadn’t recharged since before the battle had begun. He looked and felt weary. Sadly it was not a new experience for either of them. “Prowl said he was acting strangely. I’ll need to go in to see.”

Optimus nodded, but didn’t say anything. Instead he merely entered his personal code to unlock the bars.

He began to worry more as Ratchet’s examination didn’t seem to end. The medic scanned Megatron with a portable scanner, then began a closer inspection. He spent a while working at code, having to hack the Warlord. It took hours. Optimus remained, trying to be patient, but as each frown seemed to deepen on Ratchet’s face, his spark sank. Something was very wrong.

This only seemed to be confirmed when Bumblebee appeared with a piece of medical equipment for Ratchet. Optimus asked quietly, “Ratchet?” After Bumblebee had taken his leave of them. The little mech had been thanked in voice in with fields.

The medic didn’t even look up as he setup the equipment. “We have a problem.”

Optimus already knew this, but wanted the details. He shooed the guards away, sending them to the far end of the hall. There was a protest that didn’t go anywhere, and the two mechs took themselves away.

Knowing Red Alert was watching through the security feeds, Ratchet didn’t care, for this needed to be recorded. “This isn’t Megatron.”

Of all the things that Optimus had considered a possibility, this wasn’t one of them. “...Excuse me?”

Ratchet got the device in position over the warlord’s frame and activated it. The specialized scanner began taking readings. “This is an excellent mock up, and I have no idea who this spark really is, but it’s not Megatron.”

Optimus stilled and was silent for a time. His helm filled with chaotic thoughts. It took him a moment to clear his processor enough to ask, “How is that possible?”

Ratchet motioned to the still frame, “He’s suffering a full processor meltdown brought about by a persona code hack. His spark fought so hard, and for so long, against the code that it melted his processor down. That’s really common for this kind of thing. Thankfully he went into stasis near immediately and his memories didn’t suffer too badly.. I was able to take a look at it all. The frame is a near perfect recreation of Megatron’s, down to the mods, and his memories are mostly Megatron’s, but they are also clearly faked. Everything goes back a million years or so, but before that everything is vague. This is a mech who’s been completely wiped, reset into a new frame, and made to believe he’s Megatron.

Optimus rocked back on his peds, struggling with this concept. “….” Multiple questions warred for voice, but he wrangled them down to one. “Can he be saved?”

Ratchet wasn’t surprised at his friend’s kindness, and nodded. “The only thing I can do is reset him entirely. I’ll have to repair his processor, and if I change his colors and kibble he can be his own mech. That’ll take time though. And resources we may not have.”

There was a heavy vent and Optimus rubbed at his face for it all. “Do what you can, Ratchet. As you always do.” Fields touched and the prime shared many thanks through it. “Do save what memory you can and get it to Jazz. His team can pull it apart to see if anything is worth sending to Prowl.”

Ratchet noded, “He’s going to have to stay as he is for a while. I have too many others that need care. However, I think we should consider something rather dire.. if this isn’t Megatron, and he’s been here for this length of time.. what exactly happened to the real Megatron?” 

Optimus couldn’t even begin to answer that.


End file.
